New York: Europe and the Arabs
The World Meteorological Organization said that 2024 is set to be the warmest year on record, "crowned by a decade of unprecedented heat" fueled by human activities. It warned that levels of greenhouse gases continue on a record path that will lead to increased heat in the future. According to the UN's daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning.

In his New Year's message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also stated that "the ten hottest years on record have occurred in the past ten years, including 2024," adding that "we are witnessing climate collapse right before our eyes."

He said: "We must veer off this path to destruction, and we have no time to waste. In 2025, countries must set the world on a safer path by dramatically reducing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future." For her part, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the state of the climate in her first year in office, adding that as the organization celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, “our message will be that if we want a safer planet, we must act now. It is our responsibility. It is a shared responsibility, and a global responsibility.” However, Ms. Saulo stressed that temperatures “are only part of the picture,” as climate change “is unfolding before our eyes almost daily in the form of increased incidence and impact of extreme weather events.” “This year we have seen record rainfall, flooding and devastating loss of life in many countries, leaving communities on every continent devastated. Tropical cyclones have caused devastating human and economic losses, most recently in the French Indian Ocean province of Mayotte. Intense heat has scorched dozens of countries, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius on several occasions. Forest fires have also caused widespread devastation,” she added.

The World Meteorological Organization stressed that increasingly extreme weather conditions underscore the urgent need for the Early Warning for All initiative, which, along with supporting the development and delivery of climate services, is a key part of its activities to support climate change adaptation.

On climate mitigation, the organization said it is launching the Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Initiative and supporting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Conference of the Parties. It stressed that it will continue to coordinate global efforts to monitor the state of the climate and support international efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
It is worth noting that the World Meteorological Organization is scheduled to publish the global temperature standard for 2024 in January and its full report on the state of the global climate 2024 in March 2025.